


Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

by MonPetitTresor



Series: Tumblr Prompts and Potential Future AU's [9]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Loves Magnus Bane, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magnus Bane Loves Alec Lightwood, Nephilim Marks, Nephilim have marks too, No Porn, No Tentacle Porn, Protective Magnus, Tentacles, Tumblr Prompt, Warlock Marks, because it's only fair to warn they're there, it's an idea, no one actually gets physically hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 17:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20911124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonPetitTresor/pseuds/MonPetitTresor
Summary: “If Greater Demons are just fallen angels, and they have true forms that cause their kids to have a mark, why wouldn’t nephilim have them, too?”After the mess with the Soul Sword and the lies that had almost destroyed them, Alec decides it's time to come clean with his boyfriend. No matter how afraid he is of the outcome.





	Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Sharing bits of yourself with someone was never easy. Alec Lightwood was discovering that as he and Magnus grew closer and closer to one another. Opening up, revealing those parts of yourself that you never let anyone else see, or even the parts that others might’ve mocked in the past, was an exercise in trust. It was also terrifying. Never before had someone’s opinion mattered even half as much as Magnus’ did now.

Yet, for as terrifying as it all was, it was also exhilarating in its own way. To have someone see you for who you are. To know you completely. Alec was scared and thrilled by it. It was _exhilarating_. For once in his life, he had someone who seemed to _see_ him. See beyond the masks, and the walls, and all the other things that so few people even noticed were there. Magnus saw straight down to the darker parts inside of Alec – and he _loved him anyway._

Or, well, most of him.

There was a part of Alec that he hadn’t been able to show his partner. One that he felt like he _couldn’t_ show him. No matter how understanding Magnus had been so far.

At first, the idea of sharing that part of himself hadn’t even crossed Alec’s mind. Only as they grew closer did he begin to think about it. When they first shared a bed together, when he saw Magnus’ cat eyes, when they first said _I love you_, when they both almost died. Then – then they’d lost one another because of Alec’s mistakes, Alec’s lies, and only by sheer luck and the grace of the angel had Alec managed to find himself back in Magnus’ apartment. Back in his arms. Being there wasn’t something he was ever going to take for granted again.

_That_ was when Alec had started to think that maybe it was time to finally let down the last of those walls.

Unfortunately, going about it was easier said than done. Alec had no idea how he wanted to go about it, and this wasn’t something he could ask his siblings about. Not this time. This had to come from _him_. Alec had to be honest and straightforward about this as best as he could. He wasn’t going to lie to Magnus anymore. Not even one like this.

With all that in mind, Alec planned ahead, making sure that the Institute was going to be taken care of for at least two days without him. Depending on how things went, he might need those days of recovery. He planned to have Wednesday and Thursday free. For some reason, those seemed to be the days that even demons were busy. Alec didn’t claim to understand it. He just took advantage of it.

All day Tuesday he worked to make sure the place would stay in top form while he was gone. He wasn’t surprised when Isabelle cornered him about it on Tuesday afternoon.

She came into his office, knocking out a quick rap that let him know it was her without even having to look up. When he called out a “Come in!” he didn’t bother looking up from his paperwork. Why would he? He knew who it was. Just like he knew why she was there. Honestly, Alec was a bit surprised it’d taken her this long to come to him.

“Hey there, _hermano_.” Isabelle’s heels clicked as she strolled in. The door was shut behind her, thankfully, and there was the muted sound of her sinking down into one of his chairs. She never threw herself in there the way that Jace would.

When she didn’t immediately start speaking, Alec tried not to roll his eyes. Or smile. Isabelle was drawing this out on purpose. A tactic that had worked in the past. Sometimes all it took was a bit too much quiet for Alec to spill some things. At least to her. He wasn’t going to do that this time, though. He could wait her out.

Six minutes and fifteen seconds later, and a few complete reports, Isabelle finally cracked. Though she spoke as if there’d never been an awkward or challenging sort of pause at all. “You look like you’re working awfully hard today.”

“I’ve been busy,” Alec agreed readily.

Isabelle gave an almost inaudible huff that had Alec working harder to smother his smile. When he snuck a look up at his sister, there was a hint of frustration showing in the slight wrinkle of her brow. She smoothed it out quickly, though. “Any particular reason? Say – a vacation you didn’t think to tell us about?”

Signing his name with just a hint of a flourish, a gesture Alec had picked up from Magnus that he couldn’t quite resist using to needle Isabelle a bit more, Alec shook his head. “Nope.”

There was another moment of quiet, shorter this time – only a minute and twenty-two seconds – and then Isabelle let out a huff and sank a little into her seat. “You’re such a pain in my ass,” she grumbled at him. Then she sat up enough to lean her weight on her arms on the right armrest, body angled toward Alec. There was an earnest look on her face. “What’s going on, Alec? Word around the Institute is that you’re leaving for the next couple days? I just had lunch with Magnus, and he didn’t say anything about it.”

Alec’s head shot up. For the first time since she’d come in, he looked at her head-on. “You didn’t say anything about this to him, did you?”

“No.” Isabelle furrowed her brow, her curiosity replaced with concern. Gone was the playful teasing or any of the frustration. “Is everything okay? Are _you_ okay?” Then she stopped, and her whole face lit up. “By the angel – Alec, are you _surprising_ Magnus with a trip? Oh, that’s so romantic! I didn’t know you had it in you!”

He couldn’t really blame her for that reaction. But it still had Alec wanting to reach up and rub at the bridge of his nose to combat the stress headache he’d been fighting all day. “I’m not taking him on vacation,” he said abruptly. Alec couldn’t look at her as he said this, yet he found the words tumbling out. He needed to tell _someone_ what he was about to do. “I’m telling Magnus tonight.”

“Telling him what?” Isabelle asked, confusion evident in her voice.

Swallowing down the lump in his throat, Alec carefully set his pen down on the desk. “I’m _telling_ Magnus,” he repeated, lifting one hand to gesture toward himself for emphasis.

Alec looked up in time to watch the realization grow on Isabelle’s face. Her eyebrows shot up, eyes going wide, and her mouth actually dropped open on a soft _“Oh._”

“Yeah. So I, um, I figured I’d make sure this place would be okay for a few days. Just in case.”

The shock melted off of Isabelle’s face. It left her with a soft, sad look, one that he hated to see there. “Oh, Alec.” Without hesitation, Isabelle pushed herself forward until she was sitting on the edge of her chair, free to reach out her hands to him.

This right here – the supportive hands that grabbed hold of his, the warmth on her face, the love and support she practically radiated at that moment – this was the reason that Alec had told her and not anyone else. Not even Jace. Despite Jace’s penchant for rule-breaking, he’d already advised Alec once to not break this rule. He wouldn’t understand why it was so crucial that Alec break it. Isabelle would. Without Alec even saying why, she’d understand.

Isabelle gave his hand a squeeze. “It’s gonna be okay, big brother. Magnus loves you. He’s going to love this part of you, too.”

“I hope so.”

“He will. And if he doesn’t, he’s a hypocrite and an asshole who doesn’t deserve you.”

That startled a laugh out of Alec. A small one. But his lips stayed curved in a half-smile. “Thanks, Iz.”

She flashed him a bright grin in return. “No problem.” Giving his hand one last squeeze, she let go and then pushed up to her feet. “I’ll let you get your paperwork finished then. Just make sure you text me or call me and let me know how things go! I wanna hear everything!”

“Thanks, Izzy.” Alec hoped she could hear all the words underneath that. The ones that he couldn’t bring himself to say.

The smile she flashed as she left the room let him know that she read him just as well as she always had.

* * *

It took another two hours for Alec to finish up at the Institute. By the time he was done, there was just enough time for him to make a quick dash back to the loft, call in an order for dinner, and then shower and change while he waited for dinner to arrive.

He’d just started to set the food out on the table when the familiar feel of magic buzzed against his skin. Magnus tried to claim that it wasn’t possible – that there was no way Alec could feel his portal starting to form. He wasn’t a warlock. He didn’t have magic.

Alec had learned to just smile and let it go. He knew what he was feeling. The touch of Magnus’ magic was something Alec would recognize anywhere. It always seemed to brush up against his skin like it was greeting him, happy to see him there. Because of that, Alec turned, just as he always did, to watch and smile to himself as the portal began to open in the living room, and then as Magnus stepped out of it.

The smile on Alec’s lips only grew at the sight of his boyfriend. Not even his fears about tonight could diminish the joy he felt at seeing Magnus.

A joy that was echoed back at him on Magnus’ face when he caught sight of Alec setting them the table. “Alexander. What a wonderful surprise.” The portal winked out of existence, and Magnus walked right up to Alec, cupping his face to give him a kiss in greeting. “I thought you had to work late tonight.”

Alec brushed his nose against Magnus’, taking in the warmth of the gesture, the love that it always made him feel. _Raziel_, how did this man make him feel so much? What would he do if it was taken away?

He shoved those thoughts down as far as he could. Dinner first. Then they could talk. “I got done quicker than I expected, and I thought I’d get dinner on the table for you.”

“Mm. It smells wonderful, and it all looks amazing. Though not anywhere near as appetizing as you do, darling.” That last bit was delivered with a wink and a quick grope of Alec’s ass.

Rolling his eyes, Alec hip-bumped Magnus, nudging him towards his chair. “Dessert later. Dinner now, before it gets cold.”

“You know, that’s the benefits of magic, Alexander. I can either heat things back up or make sure they stay warm for us,” Magnus said. Yet he went willingly to his chair, settling into it with a grace that Alec found enviable sometimes.

Alec smiled at him. “I wanted to do this for you.”

That simple answer brought the brightest smile to Magnus’ lips. “Well then – who am I to turn down such a kind gesture?”

Dinner was an easy affair. Magnus carried most of the conversation, which wasn’t entirely uncommon. He always had better stories to tell. As today had been a busy day of clients, he had more than normal, and Alec was happy to let him talk. He wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to tell his own stories. Not with the big ball of worry that was steadily growing inside of him with each passing moment.

He’d thought he was hiding his tension well. Right up until the moment that dinner was done and the two were finishing off their drinks – a martini for Magnus, and a coffee for Alec. The plates were gone, and the leftover food sent to the fridge. Magnus had just finished up his last story, and though he’d been smiling most of the night, there was something on his face that told Alec his time was up.

Sure enough… “Now, you’ve been distracted all through our meal. There’s something on your mind.” Leaning on his arms, Magnus focused right on Alec, those cat eyes staring straight into Alec’s own. “What’s going on, Alexander?”

This was it. The moment of truth. Alec fought to swallow down the lump in his throat. _You can do this. You can do this. He’s not going to leave you. You can DO THIS_. Alec drew in a breath, clasped his hands tighter around his mug, and then squared his shoulders. “Can we talk privately?”

That simple request was enough to have Magnus going visibly tense. They’d discussed something like this when they’d talked about the Soul Sword and keeping secrets from one another. Magnus had pointed out that Alec could’ve told him at any time that they needed to speak privately, and Magnus not only would’ve understood that the words were for them and them alone, but he also could have warded them to make sure no one else heard.

Magic gathered in Magnus’ hands as he reached upward – a gesture Alec knew meant he was pulling down his more discreet wards, not throwing up his normal ones – and then he drew them down toward his lap like he was forming a circle. Or a protective bubble around them. When it was done, he brought his hands back up to the table, folding them together. It was his _serious pose_. The one that meant she was dropping all games, all pretenses, and _listening_. Something that he rarely ever did for _anyone_. “All right. What’s going on?”

Word games were never Alec’s thing. When he wanted to say or do something, he just did it. This… this wasn’t the best thing to just blurt out, so he fought hard to remember the words he’d practiced earlier. “I need to tell you something. But I…I need you to listen to me all the way, first. And I need this to stay between us.”

“Okay,” Magnus said simply.

Alec licked his lips. He wanted to drink down the coffee he held, only he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to swallow it past the knot of worry that was almost choking him. “I’m serious, Magnus. This isn’t something I’d just get a slap on the wrist for. There’s no specific law about this, but if they wanted, I could be in serious trouble for telling you this.”

He could see the way that Magnus sat up a little straighter. How his eyes sharpened, magic glowing in them briefly before settling down. “They won’t find out about it from me.”

Okay, no more stalling. Alec couldn’t put it off any longer. He needed to be honest with Magnus about everything. That included _this_.

He’d thought hard about how to start this for days and days now. Whether it would be better to _show_ and then _tell, _or _tell_ and then _show_.

In the end, he settled for a question. “How much do you know about angels’ true forms?”

Surprise had Magnus’ eyebrows going up just slightly. Then he drew them back down again and cocked his head just a bit to the side. “Not much. The texts are rather vague about that. Very few have ever seen an angel, to my understanding. Until recently, that is.”

Yeah, thinking about whatever had happened at Lake Lyn with Clary, Jace, and the angel Raziel, wasn’t something Alec wanted to focus on right now. That was a problem for another night.

“Okay,” Alec said, giving a little nod to show he understood. “What do you know about Great Demons’ true forms?”

There was a slight narrowing around Magnus’ eyes. One that said his sharp mind was running, picking up the pieces of what Alec was saying and trying to put it all together. Yet he kept his voice steady, almost casual. “A bit more, as you’ve recently learned. I don’t know if it’s common for all Greater Demons, or unique to my…father. But I do know that he had both a normal human form, which I gain some of my looks from, and a second form that’s a bit closer to what mundanes think of when they think _demon_. One that usually only shows through in his cat eyes.”

Nodding, Alec clenched his hands a little tighter. His own voice wasn’t anywhere near as steady as Magnus’. He swore he could feel his heart beating in his throat, and he wondered how the hell it was that Magnus couldn’t hear it. “All the texts say that Greater Demons are angels who fell with Lucifer. Meaning, they were once angels themselves. You could theorize that, if Greater Demons have a second form like that, a true form, then angels would have something similar.”

“Perhaps. Though the argument could be made that their true forms would be beautiful, whereas those that fell were corrupted by their fall into hell, and thus that creates the monstrous forms they’ve become, and that the demons are then modeled after.” Magnus sounded almost absent as he said that, something that told Alec just how serious the other man was taking this. He never could resist the chance to discuss theories about things. Underneath the party boy was a scholar at heart, and he and Alec had gotten into plenty of lively discussions.

Right now, he was clearly too focused on trying to figure out the puzzle in front of him to focus on theories, though. “Where are you going with this?” he asked bluntly.

“If Greater Demons are just fallen angels, and they have true forms that cause their kids to have a mark, why wouldn’t nephilim have them, too?”

Alec could see as the question struck Magnus. He blinked a few times in open surprise and sat back in his seat. Magnus opened his mouth, only to close it again.

Clearly, he’d shocked Magnus. The fact that he hadn’t even given that idea thought surprised Alec a little. But, they could talk about that part of things later. _If there is a later_.

Ignoring that treacherous thought, and all the others that tried to crop up, Alec took a steadying breath. He’d started this, and he’d reached the point of no return. The only option left was to finish this and hope that Magnus would still be around when all was said and done.

“We aren’t supposed to talk about it,” Alec blurted out. Now that he’d gotten them on topic, all of his planned words were drying up. He fell back on the bluntness he was more commonly known for. “It’s a secret all nephilim are taught to keep above all else. Especially from the Downworld. There’s no law that says we can’t talk about it, but there are stories about what happened to people who told someone.”

“You’re telling me Shadowhunters have _marks_?”

Magnus sounded incredulous. Not that Alec could blame him. “Yeah,” Alec said softly.

“But then why…?”

When Magnus didn’t finish his sentence, well, it wasn’t hard for Alec to guess where he was going with it. “Why did they hunt you for yours?” Seeing Magnus nod, Alec grimaced. He found he had to draw his hands away from his mug or risk Magnus witnessing the way they trembled, how his grip had turned white-knuckled. He brought them into his lap instead. “I don’t know exactly. But, I mean, can you imagine the Clave being okay with sharing something in common with warlocks?”

The way that anger lit up Magnus’ face had Alec wanting to draw in on himself. Magic flashed in his eyes, and it sent an electric feel in the air. All of the hairs on Alec’s arms were standing up.

“Of course they wouldn’t,” Magnus said, his voice a furious hiss. “They can’t stand the idea that there’s anything that connects them to us. Likely they’ve convinced themselves that their marks are _better_. Ours are _tainted_.”

“I doubt it helps that all warlocks seem to have a mark, while it’s considered rare in Shadowhunters. Very few actually have them. It seems to be those from the older family lines.”

It took a moment for those words to sink past Magnus’ anger. Alec couldn’t bring himself to say anything more. Not while Magnus was so angry. All he could do was sit there and clutch his hands together under the table, pinching at that bit of skin between thumb and index finger in an anxious tic, and watch as the anger on Magnus’ face slowly transformed to one of shock. “You have a mark?”

There were no words. They’d dried up somewhere in Alec’s throat. All he could do was nod.

The hurt look that flashed briefly in those eyes Alec loved so much was like a fist to his gut. It was that more than anything else that pushed Alec, forced his voice out past his lips, hoarse though it may be. “I wanted to tell you.” That was the first thing Alec said, and the most important. “I did, Magnus. But I just, I couldn’t.”

“Did you not trust me?”

“No! Of course I trust you!” Alec had worked so hard to show Magnus that lately! Trust had been the biggest hurdle they’d fought to overcome after their breakup and reconciliation. He’d been doing his best to earn back Magnus’ trust, and to prove that he trusted him. This – this, he knew, had the potential to destroy all of that. “Magnus, this wasn’t about me trusting you. This was, it was just…”

A burst of air practically exploded from Alec. He found he couldn’t sit there anymore. He shoved his way up from the table, the chair scratching across the floor with the force it was pushed back.

Alec paid that no attention. He paced away, needing to move, to put some distance between them. It was such a sharp contrast to the way he usually wanted to get closer to Magnus. Right now, he couldn’t handle that. Couldn’t be right there to watch the way his eyes would go shuttered. Or feel how his touch froze.

He was surprised out of his thoughts when Magnus spoke again. “It was just what, Alexander?”

The gentleness of his tone was lost on Alec. He was too caught up to see the way that Magnus had started to soften. All he could feel was the maelstrom of his own thoughts. _Just say it,_ he snapped at himself. _He deserves the truth. You said you were going to give it to him, so do it!_

“I was scared, all right?” Alec meant the words to come out sharp, only they didn’t. They came out just a bit cracked in the middle.

When he turned around, he found that the anger had melted off of Magnus’ face. His eyes were sad in that way they always got whenever Alec talked about moments in the past, or for some of the stories from his childhood.

Seeing it, seeing that lack of anger, gave Alec the courage to keep talking. “I was scared,” he repeated, voice softer this time. “The Clave might call warlocks the demonic ones, but your marks are, they’re usually beautiful. Some of the nephilim ones can be…” Jace’s hint of a halo, the shine of light to his skin that his glamour hid, and Clary’s beautiful white _wings. _“…but most of them aren’t. The true form of angels, they’re, they’re beautiful and _terrifying_.” Isabelle had described them once as Eldritch beings who inspired both awe and fear in equal measure.

Slowly, almost as if afraid of spooking Alec away, Magnus pushed himself up from his chair. He didn’t once take his eyes off of Alec. “I have seen many marks in my long years, Alexander. Some that were devastatingly beautiful, and others that even their own bearer kept hidden out of fear or disgust. I’ve seen my father in his true form. There is no part of you that can scare me the way that that did.” He took a step toward Alec, and then another. “There is no part of you that will ever be anything but beautiful to me.”

Alec pressed his lips together and shook his head. He wasn’t – he wasn’t beautiful. He was a _freak_. The blessing of the angels, as it was called, had only ever been yet another curse for him. Another thing he’d needed to keep hidden about himself. Even from other Shadowhunters. Though many wore their marks with pride, Alec had never been one of them.

A few more steps brought Magnus closer. He didn’t stop until he was right in front of Alec, close enough for them to feel the heat of one another. Then, eyes still on Alec’s, Magnus lifted one hand to curl it over Alec’s cheek and jaw. He smiled, stroking his thumb over Alec’s cheek as he did. “Show me?” he murmured.

“Magnus…”

His boyfriend cut him off with a soft kiss. “Show me,” Magnus whispered against his lips.

So Alec did.

One shaking hand drew his stele from his pocket. From there, it was a simple matter to shift his pants down his hip just enough to reveal the spot where the hidden rune was. How it glamoured itself right along with the things it hid was something that no one understood. But Alec always remembered where it was. He easily ran his stele over it now, revealing the stark black lines on his hip – and the monster that it’d hidden from the world.

Removing his glamour was always an experience for Alec. When the glamour hid away those other parts of himself, they weren’t truly _gone_. Though no one could see or even feel them, such as the case may be, the one who they were on could still access some of them, albeit it in a muted sense.

With the glamour gone, Alec was free to blink his eyes clear. All three of them.

He wasn’t that worried about what Magnus would think of the third completely black eye right between his brows. Weird though it might be, it wasn’t much, and Alec felt confident enough in them and in Magnus’ love to trust that his boyfriend would accept it. Which, with one surprised blink, it was clear to see that Magnus _did_.

But Alec didn’t let go of the breath he was holding. Because it wasn’t that extra eye that worried him. No, it was the much _larger _problem coming from his sides and his back. Loving someone with an extra eye was one thing. Loving someone with a mass of long, writhing, pitch-black limbs that grew from his back.

Alec could see when Magnus finally caught sight of them. His eyes briefly went wide, then blinked rapidly for a moment. “_Oh_.”

There was no way Alec could stop the full-bodied flinch he gave. He knew what he looked like. Had seen his reflection enough times to understand just how much of a freak he was. There were sixteen limbs – he _refused_ to call them tentacles, no matter _what_ Isabelle called them! – spaced out down the length of his spine, growing out of the skin on either side of it. Eight on each side, starting just below his shoulder blades and running down towards the very bottom of his spine.

They weren’t all the same size. Some were as thick as his wrist, while others were as slender as his fingers. They were completely black, just like his hair and his runes, and silky smooth.

One of them reached over his shoulder, toward Magnus, and Alec smacked at it, turning his head to snarl. “Knock it off!” he hissed lowly.

That seemed to break through whatever spell had held Magnus in place. He moved almost as if it were instinctive, needing to protect Alec from being hurt even if it was from himself. “Now, now, darling, there’s no need to be rude. They’re just trying to say hello.”

“They can keep their tips to themselves,” Alec said, giving a warning glare at the tentacle that was trying to once more inch toward Magnus.

While Alec was busy glaring at that one, another one from the other side darted under his arm, and under his guard. He didn’t realize what was happening until he felt the soft yet crinkly mix that he knew was Magnus’ hair. It was a mixture of his typical softness and some of the product he put in to keep it up the way he liked. Alec turned his glare toward that tentacle, who wasn’t the least bit disturbed. It continued to pet at Magnus’ hair like he was some sort of pet.

To Alec’s surprise, Magnus _laughed_.

“Semi-sentient, I take it?” he asked teasingly, reaching up to run his fingers along the length of the tentacle. Both it and Alec gave a soft little shudder. “Ah. Still you, though.”

This wasn’t something Alec had ever had to explain before except with Isabelle. He hadn’t even bothered trying to prepare an explanation for Magnus. He hadn’t been all that sure he’d get this far. Because of that, his words were a bit stilted and unsure. “Sort of? They’re like…like a manifestation of the angelic energy or something like that. Izzy’s made a study of it. They’re me, and I can get them to respond. I feel them. But it’s like a, symbiotic relationship?” That was the word Isabelle had used to describe it, right?

Magnus laughed again, and Alec forgot completely about trying to describe anything or any of the things Isabelle had ever told him about them. All he could focus on was the delight on Magnus’ face. The _love_ that shined in his eyes as he greeted Alec’s limbs – _tentacles_ – like they were something beautiful. The way he looked at them was likely he was completely charmed by their behavior as they took his greeting as unspoken permission to start poking and prodding him everywhere.

Every part of Alec had expected Magnus to walk away from him at this revelation. The way he looked, the mostly sentient tentacles that lived on his back, it’d scared plenty of people. It’d scared his parents, who had almost had him killed when he was born because they’d been convinced he was a demon. It’d scared Isabelle into nightmares when she’d first caught sight of them. Even Jace had been terrified. Only when they all learned that it was the _touch of the angel_ had they all relaxed about it. Even now, Alec wasn’t sure if they accepted these as a part of him or just because it was something the angel had give him. Without that, would they be as accepting?

Yet Magnus looked at him like he was amazing. Like nothing at all had changed.

“You’re not scared,” Alec blurted out.

The words were clearly a statement, not a question. Either way, Magnus didn’t hesitate to shake his head. ”Why would I be? They’re a part of you, and there is no part of you that would ever give me cause to fear.” Tilting his head up, Magnus gave him that smile that was Alec’s and Alec’s alone. The one that was so full of love, it stole Alec’s breath away. “To steal the words of a very wise man – they’re beautiful, Alexander. _You’re_ beautiful.”

A surprised shudder shook through Alec. He didn’t think about it, just reached out for Magnus, arms and extra limbs both, and drew him in close. Magnus didn’t flinch as he was wholly cocooned against Alec’s body. Alec’s arms encircled him, and his extra limbs wrapped around Magnus’ arms, his legs, the one even still up in his hair. He was held securely in a place that had come to mean comfort and safety for him, and he couldn’t have been happier.

Smiling, Magnus pressed a kiss against Alec’s neck. “I love you, Alexander.”

This wasn’t how Alec had thought the night would go. Yet he couldn’t have been happier. He gave Magnus a small squeeze as he buried his face against Magnus’ hair. “I love you, too.”


End file.
